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22-year-old UC Davis student W. (name withheld by request) was one of the students pepper-sprayed at point-blank range Friday by Lt. John Pike while seated on the ground, arms linked and silent.

W. tells Boing Boing that Pike sprayed them at close range with military-grade pepper spray, in a punitive manner. Pike knew the students by name from Thursday night when they "occupied" a campus plaza. The students offered Pike food and coffee and chatted with him and other officers while setting up tents. On Friday, UC Davis chancellor Linda Katehi told students they had to remove their #OWS tents for unspecified "health and safety" reasons.

"Move or we're going to shoot you," Pike is reported to have yelled at one student right before delivering pepper spray. Then, turning to his fellow officers and brandishing the can in the air, "Don't worry, I'm going to spray these kids down."

Video from The Guardian: "Protester and three-tour American veteran Kayvan Sabehgi was beaten by Oakland police during the Occupy protest's general strike on 2 November. Sabehgi, who was 'completely peaceful', according to witnesses, was left with a lacerated spleen." Read the rest

Demonstrations inspired by Occupy Wall Street spread worldwide today, with marches across the U.S and Asia. According to Reuters, most large cities in Europe saw protests, with tens of thousands in Rome and London. Here in Pittsburgh, a column of marchers, chanting slogans and songs, snaked through downtown to gather at Market Square; organizers expect 1000-3000 to gather peacefully in the city center this afternoon. Reuters is liveblogging events in other capitals.
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Musician Dan Bull (YouTube) created this rap mix of Radiohead's Street Spirit to honor the protests in New York and elsewhere. "I made the song because I believe the monetary system needs to be reviewed, and the peaceful nature of the protests inspired me to get involved," he writes. "Being in the UK I couldn't attend in person, so I thought I'd attend musically instead." Read the rest